As far as these accounts go, all
concur in representing it as a waste of sand and rock, unadorned with
vegetation, poorly watered, and unfit, it is believed, for any of the
useful purposes of life. A glance at the map will show what an immense
area is embraced in these boundaries; and, notwithstanding the oral
accounts in regard to it, it is difficult to bring the mind to the
belief in the existence of such a sea of waste and desert; when every
other grand division of the earth presents some prominent feature in
the economy of nature, administering to the wants of man. Possibly this
unexplored region may be filled with valuable minerals.
"Where irrigation can be had in this country, the produce of the soil
is abundant beyond description. All the grains and fruits of the
temperate zones, and many of those of the tropical, flourish
luxuriantly. Descending from the heights of San Barnardo to the Pacific
one meets every degree of temperature. Near the coast, the winds
prevailing from the south-west in winter, and from the north-west in
summer, produce a great uniformity of temperature, and the climate is
perhaps unsurpassed in salubrity.
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